REVIEW: Mansions of Madness

Mansions of Madness

Introduction: The group and I got together last week to try out Fantasy Flights, Mansions of Madness. From the product description:

During each game, investigator players explore an eerie location in the hopes of solving a mystery before it’s too late. Investigators win or lose as a team, and need to keep their wits about them to find the artifacts, weapons, and clues needed to stop the keeper’s diabolical plot. The keeper’s goal is to fulfill an evil scheme, which can range from driving the investigators insane to bringing about the end of the world. The keeper’s weapons are fear, paranoia... and terrifying monsters. Can a handful of brave investigators uncover the truth in time, or will the wicked plans of the keeper come to fruition? 

It is a game for 2-5 players that plays in 2 to 3 hours. Our game lasted 2.5 hours.

The Skinny: Similar to Arkahm Horror in the sense that players take on the role of Investigators, the addition of a competing player, as the Keeper, gives the game an odd, yet cool feel of being a cooperative game, yet being competitive at the same time.  MoM is a Lovecraft Mythos inspired board game.

The game comes with several scenarios and there are expansions available to add more. Many of them are print on demand.

The Good: The four of us had a blast with this game, and that is the most important judgement of any game. It is very handsome, and the plastic figures included with the game would work well with Arkham Horror as well (which I reviewed here), Call of Cthulhu, and/or your favorite fantasy game. As to how lovely it is, I will let my shoddy pictures, taken from my game table, speak for the game.

The Bad: MoM is a tile based game and as with any tile based game, the tiles slide around easily. Our Keeper solved this with an inexpensive mat, the kind you line your kitchen cabinets with to keep dishes off the bottom of the cabinets themselves. This worked splendidly, and I plan on stealing his idea the next time I play a tile based game such as Settlers of Catan.

The Ugly: I have nothing "ugly" to say about this game. It really is that good!

Summary: This is a great game; especially if your are a H.P. Lovecraft/Mythos enthusiast like me. Buy it. Play it. I guarantee it will not collect dust on your shelf.